Is privatisation the antidote to correcting ABC bias?

Senior Liberal figures are distancing themselves from calls to privatise the ABC, after the Liberal Party’s peak council voted almost 2:1 to privatise the national broadcaster.

Josh Frydenberg yesterday became the latest minister to spring to the ABC’s defence, declaring the national institution “can never be sold.” Likewise, Scott Morrison immediately ruled out the move, while Communications Minister, Mitch Fifield, insisted it is not government policy to privatise the broadcaster.

But Dr Chris Berg believes privatisation is the way to go.

“In our analysis, it just doesn’t hold up anymore,” he says.

“Having a public broadcaster doesn’t make sense in a modern era.”

Many say the ABC’s perceived left-leaning bias supports the case for privatisation. However, some are questioning whether flogging the broadcaster off to the free market will actually fix its ideological prejudices.

“(Many say) the ABC is overwhelmingly operated by people of the left of the political spectrum. But is the antidote to correcting bias privatisation or is it something else?” asks Michael McLaren.

“I want to be very clear that if you sell it, or if you give it away, you’re not correcting the bias,” says Berg.

“What you’re doing is stopping people from all sides of politics being required to subsidise that particular bias.”

“The idea that we have to pay for biased journalism is a really big problem. I think that is what really offends people.”